


Maybe This December, I'll Remember

by Pingu_thepenguin



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Angst, F/F, Gen, How Do I Tag, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Pre-Game Personalities (New Dangan Ronpa V3), References to Depression, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:47:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27981033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pingu_thepenguin/pseuds/Pingu_thepenguin
Summary: “It says here your name is Tenko Chabashira, you are 17 years old, and a few other things regarding your health and place of residence. So tell me, why do you think we should choose 𝘆𝗼𝘂 to be in the 53 season of Danganronpa?”___________________(or, the pregame Tenmiko fic this fandom needs)
Relationships: Chabashira Tenko & Yumeno Himiko, Chabashira Tenko/Yumeno Himiko
Kudos: 14





	Maybe This December, I'll Remember

Shivering, Himiko felt the cold breeze while making her way to the interview building. The train stop was (thankfully) nearby, but annoyingly there was still about a block left to walk before she would get to the Danganronpa facilities building. She sighed, feeling a few dainty snowflakes fall in her hair. Forgetting to bring a hat was stupid of her.  
_______________

The building itself, to her disappointment, was nothing special. It seemed like any ordinary office building, lacking any eccentricities or the signature red, black, and white color scheme. Taking her place in the line at the back, she pulled out her phone to prepare for the wait. Gritting her teeth, she took note of the people at the front with sleeping bags and even small tents. 

Weirdos, all of them. The dedication they showed was unnerving, since it was clearly stated nobody would be let in until 12. Right now, it was 11:40 and already there were so many people waiting in the cold. It seemed almost everyone here was taller than her, especially the guy in front of her with dark hair that went all the way down to his back and a strange military style uniform. She was almost curious enough to ask how long he’d been waiting there but decided against it.  
𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘺-𝘣𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥.  
She checked her phone again, the time showing 11:52. About 8 minutes left. So far, no one else had arrived after her, confirming her suspicion that she arrived late. Just as she started to put her phone in her pocket, she saw another girl walking towards the end of the line. Similar to the person in front of her, she had long hair but was tied into some sort of ponytails with loops in the middle. Nervous was the first word that came to mind when she approached, with the way she seemed to be trembling and her flitting gaze. Himiko’s instinct, and probably most logical thought, was to just ignore this girl like everyone else. But something about her seemed....familiar, at best. It’s not likely she would end up killing her specifically and it was almost laughable that this girl who was practically shaking would murder her in cold blood. 

“Hey. Why are you shaking like that? It’s not even that cold.”

Startled, the girl looked at her with wide eyes.

“Wha-what? I guess...I’m just nervous…”

Himiko narrowed her eyes. She was obviously hiding something, but even if she was suspicious it wouldn’t do any good to question her. (After all, they probably would never see each other again)

“Well, then, what’s your strategy for getting in? There’s a shit ton of people here and no offense, but you don’t really stand out too much.”

She could see her fists clench, her trembling gone momentarily. Good, maybe she’d have something interesting to say. It seems Himiko had struck a nerve somewhere.

“I… that’s none of your business! But, I’m not that stupid, I have some sort of plan.”  
Himiko pretended to think.

“Hmm… I wonder what sort of plan. What, are you going to ask them to completely rewrite your personality? Make you something special? You can’t expect the writers to give you everything, you know. Have to give them something to work with first.”

Surprisingly, (or maybe not, she didn’t even know her), the girl didn’t clench her fists or get angry like before, just let out a resigned sigh.

“I know. But I’ll impress them somehow, I have too! I wasn’t lying when I said I had a plan.”  
Himiko didn’t really have anything to say to that, but thankfully the line had started moving while they were talking.  
_______________

The inside of the building was about as impressive as the outside. She duly noted the chairs by the wall, but all of them had already been filled by people who came in before her. The paperwork had been mailed and approved before coming, so there really wasn’t much to do, besides standing alone or talking. Behind her, she saw the girl from outside standing awkwardly, although seeming much less nervous. Taking a quick look around, most people seemed to be having conversations in groups while others kept to themselves like her. The person that had stood in front of her was standing near the corner of the room and now she was able to see he was wearing some strange mask. Her gut told her to avoid him.  
A lady who seemed to be a staff member, judging by the headset and company logo shirt, came to the front of the room.

“Hello, everyone! We will be calling people’s names in order of registration, so when you hear your name called please enter into the conference room near the row of chairs in the back.”

She heard grumbling and a few angry remarks at that, most likely from the people who were camping here overnight. Himiko almost laughed. What idiots.  
She felt a light tap on her shoulder and quickly turned around to see the girl from earlier.

“So, what’s uh, your reason for coming?”

She almost didn’t respond, because she really didn’t feel like it and her name could be called any moment, but she honestly didn’t have anything better to do and this girl seemed at least semi-normal compared to most of the other people here. One boy wearing a hat nearby had been describing his murder and excution plans in detail with a few others around around him since she they got in.

“I’m not going to give you my entire life story or anything, if that’s what you’re looking for. Let’s just say this is my best option.”

The girl twirled her hair a bit, looking confused.

“Best option? That’s kind of vague, but I’m glad you're not one of the obsessed people here, they’re kind of freaking me out.”

Himiko’s lip quirked up at that.

“You don’t want to cross that guy over there. Seems to know every single piece of danganronpa lore, might describe his plans to murder you in excruciating detail.”

The girl let out an ugly snort, gaining her a few weird looks from people nearby.

“I’ll make sure to avoid him. By the way, what’s your name? Mine is Tenko Chabashira.”

Himiko gave her a wary look. She was reluctant give out her personal information, but if Chabashira already told her her name she probably wasn’t looking to stalk her or anything.

‘“...Himiko Yumeno.”

Chabashira smiled at her.

“Nice to meet you, Yumeno-san.”

“Don’t bother with honorifics. We probably won’t even see each other again, after all. The chances of us both getting picked are slim.”

She was fidgeting again, with one of her hair ties.

“I know that, especially since most of the people here seem to know so much about Danganronpa and have some sort of cool edge but maybe I can make it as a side character. I was thinking: Ultimate Aikido Master. My parents… well it doesn’t matter, this is my choice, but the possibility of death is still unnerving. I’m afraid that I’ll second guess myself when the interview begins  
Chabashira’s statement seemed eerily similar to what she was thinking. In all honesty, she didn’t really care what happened to herself or this girl. They both made their choices to be here, no matter the circumstances. Danganronpa itself was just a fancy way of giving up, and no matter how they try to sugarcoat it under the pretense of a “game”, it was a sad excuse for viewers to gleefully watch teenagers murder each other and fall to despair.

“I don’t care if I die or not. All my options suck, but I choose to be here so I decided I was gonna do it right. There’s a lot of those crappy characters who just rely on everyone else the whole game and do basically nothing, but I’m aiming for something bigger. Supporting character, maybe… dies in the third chapter?”  
“I don’t...want to be a survivor, though. I have no preference for when I die, but hopefully not chapter one, you know?”

“Hmm.”

The conversation quieted after that, Himiko opting to move to a different area and see how many people had already gone in while Chabashira staying, back to fidgeting with her hair.  
_______________

About two hours had passed since her conversation with that short girl, Yumeno, and she had mostly just been standing in the same spot. Nobody had come up to her, which was fine since she was preoccupied and didn’t really have anything to say anyways. As long as her stepfather never knew she was here, she was fine. Hiding the applications took a bit of effort, but he never really cared what she did anyways so it wasn’t likely he knew what she was planning. She was worried though, for her mother. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea….

“Tenko Chabashira?”

She perked up when hearing her name and saw the lady waiting by the conference room door. Slowly making her way over, she saw Yumeno still waiting and talking to another short girl with white hair. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the door and made her way over to the table in the center of the room.  
_______________

“It says here your name is Tenko Chabashira, you are 17 years old, and a few other things regarding your health and place of residence. So tell me, why do you think we should choose 𝘆𝗼𝘂 to be in the 53 season of Danganronpa?”

The woman in front of her looked mostly….bored. She had been doing this for a few hours, so it was understandable, but Tenko couldn’t help being disappointed. Her chances seemed even slimmer, everything she had to say had probably been said before. 

“I… Well, i’m not sure if you’ve heard this yet, but my home life, uhhh, it sucks. My stepfather doesn’t care about anyone but himself and alcohol and my mom can’t stand up to him and finally kick him out.”

The women scribbled something down before giving her a look.

“Look, kid, I’ve heard everything before. Most of the people here are depressed mega fans looking to kill someone. I’m asking for something I can work with, ok?”

Something she could work with? That could mean almost anything. A part of her felt like crying, because of course she couldn’t even make it into a game designed to kill her. Maybe she should have just done it herself, to spare the embarrassment. But, that wasn’t really right either because Danganronpa was a way for her to change, even with the possibility of death. They had to change a person to put them in the game, right? People aren’t just born with ultimate talents like in the original videogame. Special, that was what they were looking for. If she wanted to be someone worth admiring, someone strong, she would have to pretend for the time being.

“I’m pretty athletic and used to do aikido when I was younger, I can be an amazing supporting character! You have to change people’s personalities and give them fake talents, right? Most of the female characters have been boy crazy or died early, I can be one of those badass ones that fights for the side of hope! I don’t have a preference, but I would prefer not to be the first victim… blackened, victim, either works.”

The woman started writing in her notepad, and even when Tenko tried to take a peek she couldn’t see what she was writing over her clipboard. Damn.

“What if you were the first victim, or we decided you would be better with a different role than what you described. Most people go for the protagonist role, but we can’t cater to every individual person.”

Tenko felt a lump rise in her throat. What was even the point of asking if they were just going to do what they wanted? What game was she playing at?

“It...it doesn’t matter to me! I want to be useful to everyone and help because I can’t do that here. Danganronpa is about murder and that’s why most people want to be a part of it, but I also see it as a chance to start over, so that’s what I want to do! The central game themes always have something to do worth hope and despair, and even though both are interesting, I want to be a character that helps fight for hope and dies atragically...although you said you’ll do what’s possible so it’s up to team Danganronpa...” 

The lady looked at her, taking a look at her chipping nail polish before responding.

“Alright, me and my team will look into getting you a spot. Is there anything else you would like to say?” 

“

No, not really, Tenko thought bitterly. This interview didn’t exactly go the way she planned by magically blowing everyone away but she had said enough to not embarrass herself at least. Then she remembered Himiko, who had admittedly been kind of rude but gave some advice, in her own way. She hadn’t gone in yet, so maybe it would be helpful to put in a good word for her.

“There’s a girl outside, Himiko Yumeno? If possible, you should consider her too. Also, make sure absolutely none of the money I get from this goes to my stepfather.”

Her interviewer raised her eyebrows.  
“Hmm...that’s not an uncommon request, we’ll see what we can do about the money. Also, how exactly do you know her? Maybe it could be something I could mention to the writers, they’re always looking for relationships to add to the story.”

Tenko almost bit her lip, but stopped herself. She didn’t want to appear nervous, but she was panicking a little because she knew almost nothing about her besides the fact that she was short and had a bit of an attitude problem. S𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥, 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘶𝘱 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. She might as well milk this the best she could, even though her lying skills were average at best.

“Yeah we’ve known each other for years, I met her at the park when I was younger so we’ve been friends for a while. We don’t go to the same school so we don’t get to talk too often. I’m sad she didn’t tell me she was auditioning, but she’s always been private.”

The lady wrote a few more things down as she talked. 

“Hmm… I see, thank you for mentioning this. It’s always nice to see people who know each other beforehand so we already have some character relationships and dynamics to work with, so I’ll talk with Miss Yumeno when she gets interviewed.”

With that, Tenko was dismissed.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is actually my first fic? If anyone reads this or has feedback feel free to leave a comment. I'm hoping to get the second chapter out soon but I'm not sure how long this is going to be. (also yes I did steal the title from a Ricky Montgomery song)


End file.
